An Everyday Social Work Approach

A basic approach social workers can use with many clients covering person-centred practice, interview techniques, practice models, child aware practice and setting boundaries.

This page has three sections:

1. Background Material that provides the context for the topic

2. A suggested Practice Approach

3. A list of Supporting Material / References

4. Appendix 1: SMART goals

5. Appendix 2: Being an empathetic witness

6. Appendix 3: How to be more assertive

7. Appendix 4: 10 Tips for practice

Feedback welcome!

Background Material

Person-centred practice is central: shared decision making with an emphasis on empowering people and assisting them with self-determination. The person’s preferences and goals are important and form the basis of discussion.

It is important to gather information in order to complete relevant aspects of a biopsychosocial-spiritual assessment.

Interview Approach

1. Welcome

Simple social interchanges (e.g. comments or questions related to transport, parking, and the weather) and shaking hands (when appropriate) will assist in making the client feel welcome. This stage should provide answers to: (i) What is this going to be all about? (ii) What kind of worker is this going to be?

2. Establish a relationship: Clarify the purpose for meeting, the limits of confidentiality, what will happen with what we discuss, and how long we will talk for (e.g. evaluate after 45 minutes).

• Engaging with interest and warmth

• Offering acceptance and empathic understanding

• Demonstrating a respect for the client’s individuality

• Being genuine and authentic

• Be aware the potential power differential between me and the person.

3. Attend (SOLAR)

S Face clients squarely, indicating availability and interest in client

Adopt an open posture

Lean towards the client

E Maintain appropriate eye contact

R Remain relatively relaxed

4. Open questions: What, why, how and could / could you

5. Prompt, and offer encouragers: Nods, gestures, ‘I see’, ‘uh-huh’

6. Reflect feelings (empathy): It appears that … / sounds like … / looks like …; you seem to feel …; I get the impression that …/

7. Paraphrase

8. Normalise

9. Summarise

10. Use silence

11. End the interview: consider content covered, goals for next interview.

Pond (2023), who became a social worker late in life, writes about the important lessons he learned as a beginning counsellor:

• A counsellor’s life experience can be more valuable for clients than their counselling experience. One’s personal challenges, failures, victories, insights and own mental health journey are powerful and can be every bit as essential as one’s clinical experience to both the therapeutic alliance and client outcomes.

• It’s OK to be a beginner. A corollary to accepting that one is a novice is admitting it and asking for help when needed.

• When in doubt, just be there for the client. Counselling isn’t about solving a client’s problems; it’s just about showing up and being there for the client.

• Learn more than you have to. Dedicating a few hours per month to continuing education is a great investment and will build good habits for the future.

• Every counselling student should leave school with some expertise in at least a couple go-to modalities.

• Being able to treat trauma may be the most important skill a counsellor can have. Many clients either have trauma or their presenting symptoms can be traced to earlier trauma.

• Different therapeutic choices can all be valid. If a solid, trust-based relationship exists between client and therapist, many modalities can support positive clinical outcomes. An integrated approach is often more powerful than any one intervention in isolation, and as a client progresses, it’s helpful to modify treatment choices.

• Just because someone has a lot of experience doesn’t mean they always give good advice.

• Sometimes a situation is beyond your scope of practice. If a client needs help outside the counsellor’s area of competency, the danger is “guessing” about which interventions to use or trying things we just don’t know how to do.

• Learn to practice self-care early. Counselling can also be overwhelming at times. Some basic self-care techniques can make a big difference, e.g., allow a few minutes between sessions to reflect and reset and schedule downtime to recharge.

• Clients are often profound teachers. Clients are almost always capable of figuring things out, leading their own healing and offering profound insights into their own realities as well as into life in general.

Peart (2025) provides advice on de-escalating dangerous situations. Knowing how to de-escalate a dangerous situation is not just a useful skill, it’s an essential one. Dangerous situations can involve direct threats, shouting, aggression, someone pacing, clenching their fists, or speaking through gritted teeth. The primary goal is always the same: keep yourself and others safe while trying to defuse the situation.

Read the signs early    These might include:

• Raised voice or rapid speech

• Agitated movements like pacing or tapping

• Sudden changes in tone or body language

• Refusal to engage or breaking eye contact entirely

• Aggressive posturing or invading personal space

Stay calm and control your own body language         Keep posture relaxed but alert. Avoid crossing arms, pointing, or making sudden movements. Maintain a calm, even tone of voice, and keep hands visible to convey openness and safety.  Slow and steady breaths project calmness.

Use one’s voice wisely                 Speak slowly and clearly. Keep the tone respectful and non-confrontational. Avoid raising one’s voice. Acknowledge emotions without agreeing with any aggressive behaviour. For example:

• “I can see you’re upset, and I want to understand what’s going on”

• “Let’s slow things down so we can talk about what’s bothering you”

Validating feelings demonstrates listening, which can help reduce the need to escalate to get attention.

Establish space               Have an exit route in mind. Do not block the other person’s way out. If possible, avoid sitting down if they are standing.

Set boundaries without provoking    Try to set limits in a calm, factual way:

• “I want to help, but I can’t do that if you shout at me”

• “We can continue talking, but only if we both keep our voices down”

Clear and simple boundaries can sometimes restore a sense of structure and control without making the person feel challenged.

Involve others if needed           End the interaction; if necessary, call for backup, or involve colleagues or security staff.  If in doubt, get out.

After the incident          Debrief:

• What were the early warning signs?

• What worked well in calming the situation?

• What could I do differently next time?

Use supervision or team debriefs to talk through the experience. Incidents like these can leave a person shaken, even if nothing physical happened, and it’s important to process that impact.

Preferred Practice Models

Practice Approach

Good Social Work Practice Happens Along a Spectrum

There’s an idea that relational social work and the systems social workers work inside sit at opposite ends of a spectrum: feelings versus forms. Most days live in-between.  Some hours focus on compliance, others with human emotion.  But most work involves social workers moving between each.  Social workers are pushed between reflection and action. Each hour asks for a different strand of practice: empathy with children and families, advocacy in meetings, analysis when translating experience into evidence. Administration anchors all of it, but social workers are practitioners rather than paper-pushers.

Without effective recording and assessment, social workers cannot evidence change or concern. Without time in homes to gather the story, there is nothing to evidence. The hardest part is managing both together.  One part comes from systems: portals, audits, chronologies, policy. The other comes from people: fear, hope, harm, repair. Together they create a load social workers must carry.

Time with families who need presence ahead of intervention is not a luxury; it is the way good outcomes happen. That time builds the trust that lets challenge be constructive and makes support usable. Yet that time competes with recording it, auditing it, and proving compliance with policy. When the procedural side crowds out the human side, families get inconsistency: changes of worker, brittle decisions, less compassion and less creativity. When the human side isn’t recorded, families get stuck, because nothing moves without evidence.

A balanced relational load protects from burnout and protects families from the fallout of our burnout. Systems should balance compliance with connection, and reflection with recording, so social workers can do the job the public thinks they do.

Social work will remain central to supporting the most vulnerable, regardless of AI or policy weather. Sustainability requires balance. Balance begins with the choices made inside a day. Be present long enough for the relationship to speak. Record soon enough for the system to hear it. Write what is seen and why it is seen. Hold the person and the paperwork at the same time.

Social workers work along a spectrum. Families get something that changes tomorrow and social workers have a balanced workload (Glass, 2025).

Be aware of Professional Boundaries

Professional relationship boundaries can be placed on a continuum from ‘entangled’ to ‘rigid’. The mid-range of the continuum represents ‘balanced’ professional relationship boundaries.

Occasionally workers will breach professional boundaries for good reason, i.e. do something that is not in accord with an accepted standard of behaviour such as give a client a personal phone number when no other resources are available. But these decisions should make sense to other professionals in the circumstance.

Establish a working relationship – with empathy [See Appendix 2: How to be empathetic]

• Introduce the environment: e.g. too hot, window open

• Tea, coffee, water?

• General questions to the person, e.g. weather conditions, finding the place, travel time, parking

• Introduce myself: working life, social work qualifications, experience with people, life orientation to helping people to navigate issues in life

• Confidentiality (AASW member so do not share what we talk about with others unless you give consent)

Explore the issue

• Explore the reason for coming, e.g. what is the issue, when did it start, how have your responded, how has it affected you?

• Conduct BPPS assessment, especially around support (family, friends, medical, peer-to-peer, education), stressors, client’s strengths and protective factors

• Check Maslow’s Hierarchy

• Identify the problems so both client and I agree on this (single sentences).

Examine possibilities and solutions

• Use miracle question – What would it look like if things were just the way you wanted them to be? Identify goals that are specific, concrete and achievable in a reasonable time frame (i.e. SMART goals—specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.  See Appendix 1 for further explanation).   Frame them in positive language.  ). Frame them in positive language.

• Scale these goals on a scale of 1 – 10, i.e. where things are now and where they would be if successfully achieved.

• Brainstorm tasks (What has worked before? What are your strengths that may help achieve the goals?)

• Consider pros and cons of various strategies for achieving goals. Consider obstacles to completion and how the client’s strengths can help manage these.

• Decide on a course of action and specify the responsibilities of worker and client with time lines (role playing may be appropriate)

Undertaking work together to resolve or address the problem or issue

Carry out the plan and evaluate, alter, (i.e. adjust approach) and then move to another issue if necessary

Be conscious of Child Aware Practice

Parents with mental health, addiction, homelessness and family violence issues can cause major difficulties for children. These can have life-long consequences, e.g. suicide, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, high-risk sexual behaviour, violence and criminal offending, homelessness and abuse and neglect of one’s own children. Therefore, it is important that those supporting adults also assess the impact of adults’ issues on children and take steps to support adults in their parenting role. This is what Child Aware Practice is about. You will find this topic covered in more detail on the website at https://www.thesocialworkgraduate.com/post/child-aware-practice

Finishing the work together, often with a review

Discuss progress to goals and finishing the relationship regularly during the process

At the end of the process summarise client achievements, skills, positives and areas to be aware of. Discuss managing future problems that may arise.

Addendum: The Structural Approach

In 2023 Wendt et al. suggested social workers use a structural approach when supporting families who are managing different issues: intergenerational disadvantage, mental illness, family domestic violence and alcohol and other drug use. The following material (around dealing with intergenerational disadvantage) is worth considering when dealing with families.

Structural social work links individual “problems” to broader societal injustices. It views social inequalities, rather than individual deficiencies as the root of people’s problems. The twofold goal of structural social work is to address people’s problems by examining the social order that surrounds them while simultaneously working to transform society through social reforms and fundamental social change. Social workers operating from a structural perspective foster an open, supportive and egalitarian relationship with people by recognising and honouring the person’s expertise in their personal situation (George & Marlow, 2005).

Developing respectful and honest relationships with families is key to this structural and strengths-based practice approach. Understanding the challenges parents have faced, the strategies they use to overcome these challenges, and their hopes for their children is critical. At the same time, an honest relationship allows for a genuine understanding of the effects of adult adversity on children. This understanding is key to the safety and wellbeing of children who are living with complex and intersecting issues such as disadvantage, parental substance use, mental illness, trauma and violence (Wendt, Rowley, Seymour, Bastian, & Moss, 2023).

Intergenerational disadvantage is commonly defined as socioeconomic disadvantage which reflects not only people’s lack of economic resources, but also their social exclusion and limitations on their aspirations and political voice. Disadvantage can persist within communities across generations when there is a lack of socioeconomic opportunities for vulnerable people and their families.

Factors that may contribute to intergenerational disadvantage include:

• Education

• Socioeconomic background

• Family size and culture

• Ethnicity

• Cultural background

• Language spoken at home

Poverty, trauma, abuse and neglect, and mental health difficulties play out within and across generations, yet are often responded to as short-term, individual and isolated challenges.

Practice strategies for families experiencing intergenerational disadvantage

Acknowledge that structural issues, not the person, are at the root of problems. This gives a different sense of the situation. It shifts the social worker from being the expert with solutions to a person who shares and reflects with the person, ideally concentrating on the person’s strengths.

It is important to develop the human connection. Be upfront. Be honest, respectful, not over-promising, just telling the person what the practitioner’s role is, what she or he can and can’t do

Acknowledge that the actual attendance of parents at a session and willingness to have a conversation is an act of resilience.

Notice the things the person has done, the attempts to do things differently while acknowledging that times can be challenging.

Stress that the person is not alone in their experiences and there are elements of the situation that are bigger than them. Identify these structural conditions that enable and maintain the position the person is in.

Where relevant, tap into the children’s experiences—ask what children are experiencing, and ask the parent what she or he thinks the children are experiencing (Wendt, Rowley, Seymour, Bastian, & Moss, 2023).

Supporting Material / References

(available on request)

Generalist Social Work (Pearson Education)

George, P., & Marlowe, S. (2005). Structural social work in action. Journal of Progressive Human services, 16(1), 5-24. doi:10.1300/J059v16n01_02

Glass, M. (2025, October 15).  The secret colour of good social work practice is purple.  Here’s why.   Social Work News. https://www.mysocialworknews.com/article/the-secret-colour-of-good-social-work-practice-is-purple-here-s-why 

Pond, W.K. (2023, October 23). What I’ve learned as a new professional counselor. Counseling Today. https://ct.counseling.org/2023/10/what-ive-learned-as-a-new-professional-counselor/

Wendt, S., Rowley, G., Seymour, K., Bastian., & Moss, D. (2023). Child-focused practice competencies: Structural approaches to complex problems. Emerging Minds Practice Paper. https://emergingminds.com.au/resources/child-focused-practice-competencies-structural-approaches-to-complex-problems/?audience=practitioner

Appendix 1

SMART Goals

Peart, V. (2024, July 31).  How to use smart goals in social work.  Social Work News.  https://www.mysocialworknews.com/article/how-to-use-smart-goals-in-social-work 

Setting goals is one of the cornerstones of practice as social workers; however, not all goals will be effective. Goals  should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

Specific          The goals set for clients need to be specific, i.e. clear, simple, and specific in order to provide easy direction. Help clients pinpoint exactly what they want to achieve, why they want to do that, and how they’ll do it.

Example: If a client is dealing with drug addiction, a specific goal could be, “I want to attend three support group meetings per week”

Measurable  Goals should be measurable so that progress can be measured over time.  Measurable goals define clear criteria for measuring their step-by-step progress, making it easier to recognise progress and when the goal has been achieved.

Example: For a client struggling with budgeting, a measurable goal might be, “I will save £200 over the next three months by reducing unnecessary expenses”

Achievable    Goals should be realistic and achievable. Overly ambitious goals can result in failure and lead to frustration.  Through discussion realistically assess client strengths and  protective factors as well as the risks they may face.

Example: For a client facing domestic abuse, an achievable goal could be, “I will find a safe place to stay within the next two weeks with the help of my social worker”.

Relevant        Goals must be relevant to the client’s situation. They should be culturally appropriate, mindful of the client’s own experience, and suited to their life. They should matter to them personally.  Talk with clients about what their wants and dreams.

Example: For a client dealing with mental health issues, a relevant goal might be, “I will practice mindfulness meditation for 10 minutes each day to manage my anxiety better”

Time-bound Goals need to have a deadline and be time-bound—a sense of urgency is required to help retain focus.  Work with clients to establish a realistic timeframe.

Example: For a client working through drug addiction, a time-bound goal could be, “I will complete a 12-week rehabilitation program by the end of October”

Appendix 2

Being an empathetic witness

Peart, V. (2025, September 17).  How to be an empathetic witness.  Social Work News. https://www.mysocialworknews.com/article/how-to-be-an-empathetic-witness 

There are days in social work when the most useful thing to bring into the room is not a form, a plan, or a brilliant intervention. It is personal attention that says, “I am here. I can bear to hear this. You do not have to carry it alone.” That is the work of an empathetic witness.  Empathetic witnessing is the act of staying present to another person’s reality, letting their account lead, and reflecting it back accurately and respectfully. Notice, name, hold, and help the story find safe edges.

What empathetic witnessing is (and isn’t)

At its simplest, empathetic witnessing rests on three anchors: safety, dignity and choice. Safety means pacing the conversation so it does not overwhelm. Dignity means responding in a way that protects the person’s worth, even when the content is difficult. Choice means offering control back in small ways when life has taken a lot of control away. 

Prepare the ground before you ask anything important

Good witnessing starts before the first question through setting the frame. “You can stop at any point. You can tell me as much or as little as you want. If I need to act on anything for safety, I’ll say so.” Explain where notes go, and who will see them.  Pick a space with privacy. Sit where both have easy access to the door and a clear line of sight. Enter calmly.

Listen with your whole body

Don’t fill silence. Allow space. Keep an open posture. Show appropriate facial concern. If the story is fragmented, accept it as it arrives. Help shape it later.  Use everyday language. “Tell me what it’s like on a bad evening.” “What happened next.” Offer gentle checks to communicate respect. “Tell me if I get this wrong.” “Have I understood.”

Name feelings without taking over the narrative

Say out loud what is often left unsaid. “That sounds frightening.” “It makes sense you were angry.” “Anyone in your position would find that a lot.” Avoid clinical shorthand. “You were terrified,” lands better than “you displayed anxiety.”

Offer choice in small, concrete ways

Ask, “Would you like the window open or closed.” “Do you want me to take notes while we talk or after.” “Do you want to pause.” Tiny choices restore agency.  If someone dissociates or becomes very distressed, ground gently. “Look at me for a moment. Can you name three things in this room.” Suggest a break.

Hold the line on boundaries and duty

Do not promise confidentiality that cannot be kept. Say clearly, “If I’m worried someone is in danger, I will have to share that. I will explain what I’m doing.”  

Close the encounter, don’t just end it

Summarise what has been heard in a few sentences. Check the most important points from their perspective have been captured. Offer a clear next step and when it will happen. Ask what would help them feel steadier leaving the room.

Do a two-minute personal aftercare. Stretch. Breathe. Jot: what was heard, what will be done, what is being carried.

Record in a way that honours what was said

Separate observation from inference. Use the person’s own words in quotation marks where it counts. Avoid embellishment and sanitising. Locate the account in time and place. Record agreed next steps, and who owns them.  If the person read the note, they should recognise themselves.

A pocket script to start tomorrow

Use this three-part opener next time you anticipate a hard conversation.

One: “You’re in charge of what you say today. We can pause at any time.”

Two: “If I’m worried about safety, I will tell you and explain what I have to do.”

Three: “I’ll listen first. Tell me what you want me to understand.”

When someone’s story is received with steadiness, dignity and choice, the telling itself becomes part of the repair.

Appendix 3

How to be more assertive

Peart, V. (2025, September 24). How to be more assertive.  Social Work News.  https://www.mysocialworknews.com/article/how-to-be-more-assertive 

What assertiveness is, and what it is not           Assertiveness is the ability to express your thoughts, feelings, and needs in a way that respects your own rights and the rights of others. When you are assertive you do three things. You make your position clear. You make a reasonable request. You describe the next step if nothing changes.  Passive says nothing and resents it later. Aggressive says everything with heat and damages trust. Assertive says enough, in time, and leaves dignity intact. 

Start with posture, breath, and tone                   Before a difficult conversation, plant both feet on the floor, breathe out longer than you breathe in, and lower your shoulders. When you start speaking, slow your pace and aim for warm and firm. The words matter but your body will do half the work.  Sit or stand at the same level as the other person. Look at people when you are making a point and look down to your notes when you are finishing it.

Use simple and direct sentences Try this structure when you need to be clear and fair.

1.     State the fact you can evidence.

2.     State the impact.

3.     State what you need.

For example: “School have recorded three late collections this week. This is increasing tension for your son and for staff. I need you to agree a reliable pick-up plan by the end of today.”

Short sentences are your friend.  Prefer “I need” to “I was just wondering if maybe.” Prefer “By Friday at 12” to “as soon as possible.” Prefer “No, I cannot do that” to “I do not think I can right now.”

Set boundaries that hold   Boundaries are not punishments. They are the conditions that keep everyone safe and the work productive.

• If a parent shouts, name the behaviour and the boundary. “I want to listen, and I will not do that while I am being shouted at. I am going to step outside for five minutes. If the shouting continues, we will rearrange the visit.”

• If a colleague repeatedly asks you to pick up tasks that are theirs, try: “I am at capacity with my own cases. I cannot take this on. I can show you the process I use if that helps.” You are saying no, not being unhelpful.

Prepare one line you will say every time           A single prepared line can steady you. Here are three that work in many settings.

• “I cannot agree to that today. I will consider it and come back tomorrow with an answer.”

• “I am not comfortable with that plan, and I will explain why.”

• “I would like to finish my point before we move on.”

Be assertive in meetings   If your agenda item is being squeezed, name it and reset. “We are short of time and we still need to agree the safety plan. Can we return to that now.” If someone talks over you, hold eye contact and say, “I haven’t finished.” Then complete your sentence.

Write assertive emails       Before you send, ask what the email is for and write that in the first line. “I am writing to confirm…”, “I am requesting…”, “I am declining…”, “I am escalating…”. Use short paragraphs and time frames.  If the issue really needs talking, pick up the phone and follow with a short confirmation email.

Handle pushback without inflaming      Expect pushback. Acknowledge the feeling you see, restate the boundary or request, and stop talking. “I can hear this is frustrating. The requirement is still the same. The visits must be unannounced.” Silence is powerful. Let it work.  If the temperature rises, name it and slow things down. “This is getting heated. I suggest we take five minutes and come back.”

Be assertive with yourself Sometimes the person you most need to be assertive with is the one in your own head. The part that says yes to everything.

In brief: Assertiveness is not a personality type. It is a skill that protects children, families, colleagues... and you. Clear beats clever. Calm beats loud. Kind beats nice.

Appendix 4

10 Tips for Practice

Social Work News. (2025, October 13).  10 things every student social worker needs to know.  https://www.mysocialworknews.com/article/10-things-every-student-social-worker-needs-to-know

1) Relationships beat forms (but the forms still matter)

You will not change a life with a template. You will change it with trust. Sit down, learn names, ask about the dog. Then write it up.

2) Curiosity is your superpower

“Help me understand…” is gold. Ask one more question. Leave one more silence. Also interrogate your assumptions. Is this “non-engagement” or “cannot afford the bus”? Is this “poor hygiene” or “no hot water since January”?

3) Thresholds are not feelings, they are evidence

Decisions get made on what is observed and recorded. Turn feelings into facts on paper. “No working cooker. Child reports cereal for dinner three times this week. Prepayment meter on emergency.”

4) Poverty is not neglect, so sequence help before heat

Before you escalate, check the basics. Food, fuel, beds, transport, safe housing. A Section 17 food shop or a repaired cooker often calms a crisis faster than a stern paragraph about routines.

5) Supervision is not therapy, but it should be honest

Turn up with an agenda. Bring the risks you are holding, the decisions you need, and the bits you are avoiding.

6) Learn the boring, powerful things

The law is not a vibe. Read your Children Act sections. Practise writing chronologies that are not novels and referrals that land. It is effective.

7) Phones for feelings, emails for records

If it needs more than three sentences, call. If it needs a trail, summarise by email.

8) You will make mistakes, so repair them quickly

You will miss something, phrase it badly, or forget to press save” Own it. Fix it. Tell your manager. Apologise to families when you get it wrong. Repair builds more trust than pretending you are perfect.

9) Boundaries are compassion with edges

Have a log-off time that is not midnight. Keep a script for “no.” “I do not have capacity for that safely today. Here is what I can do.”

10) Find your people and keep your joy

You need colleagues who challenge your thinking and smuggle a KitKat under your door before court. Celebrate small wins.